The game of blackjack is well known and widely played in most land-based casinos.
At the simplest level, the game of blackjack is played between each one of a number players, normally from 1 to 7 players, and a dealer who represents a “house”. During a turn of the game, each player is required to make an initial wager on the outcome of two separate hands of playing cards, one hand to be dealt to the player and the other hand to be dealt to the dealer, respectively. After making the initial wager, each player is dealt two cards face up, and the dealer is dealt one card face up, from one or more decks of 52 playing cards.
Each card is deemed to have a point value as follows: a deuce to a ten is deemed to have a point value equal to the face value of that card; a Jack, a Queen or a King is deemed to have a value of 10, while an Ace is deemed to have a value of 1 or, optionally, 11, at the discretion of the player and the dealer, respectively.
Each player is then required to decide, on the basis of the two playing cards which have been dealt to him, and the dealer's exposed playing card, whether to draw additional cards, one at a time, to augment the player's hand (that is, to “hit”), or not to draw any further additional cards for augmentation of the player's hand (that is, to “stand”). If the total point value of the cards in the player's hand exceeds 21 at any stage, the player is deemed to have “bust”, in which case the player's initial wager is forfeited to the house, and the player takes no further part in that turn of the game.
Once each player in that turn of the game has elected to stand, or has bust, the dealer augments his hand by drawing additional cards, one at a time, according predetermined rules, an example of which may be:                1. the dealer must hit if the total point value of the cards in the dealer's hand is less than 17;        2. the dealer must stand if the total point value of the cards in the dealers hand in greater than or equal to 17;        3. the dealer busts if the total point value of the cards in the dealer's hand is greater than 21. If the dealer busts while the player has not, the player wins the initial wager at even money.        
Where neither the player nor the dealer has bust, the outcome of the wager is decided by comparing the total point value of the player and dealer hands. If the players hand has the higher total point value, the player wins the initial wager at even money. If the dealer's hand has the higher point value, the player's initial wager is forfeited to the house. In the event that the total point values of the player and dealers hands are equal, the outcome of the game is a tie and the initial wager is neither forfeited nor won by the player. There are numerous variations to these rules of the game of blackjack, which are not material to the invention, and which will not be described here in detail.
It is known that the game of blackjack is a game where a player's skill is a major determinant of success or failure in the game. It is also well known that an unskilled player should play the game according to a certain predefined basic strategy in order to minimise an advantage that the game offers to an operator of the game. A disadvantage of the game of blackjack is that the rules of the basic strategy can be tedious to learn and to master. A further aspect of the game of blackjack is that a number of turns of the game are dealt from a shoe consisting of, typically, five conventional decks of 52 playing cards each. Successive turns of the game are thus not independent and are influenced by the cards that have been dealt from the shoe in preceding turns of the game, until the five decks in the shoe are re-shuffled. An unskilled player can thus find the game of blackjack particularly daunting and be reluctant to play the game for fear of making incorrect game play decisions.
It is desirable for an operator of a game of blackjack that the rate at which successive turns of the game can be played be speeded up in order to increase a turnover of wagers that are made on the game.